Job openings in the food and drink sector continue to increase, with manufacturers adding 3,000 jobs in the Q2, bringing the total number of jobs in the sector to 478,000. However, vacancy rates remain high.
According to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Q2 State of Industry Report, the number of unfilled positions for every 100 jobs had risen to 6.3, up from 5.2 in Q1 which is above the UK’s average of 4.2.
Over the three months to August, the number of vacancies fell for the third month in a row to 1,266,000. However, there are 470,000 more vacancies than pre-pandemic times. Despite, the fall in the number of vacancies, the number of unemployed people per vacancy remains at an “historical low” of 1.0.
The report said that jobs in the industry have been persistently rising since Q1 2021 and regular pay grew compared to pre-Covid trends. The unemployment rate over the three months to July 2022 fell to 3.6%, its lowest since 1974 while employment also fell slightly to 75.4%, 1.1 percentage point below its pre-pandemic level.
The FDF said that both employment and unemployment indicators are impacted by more people leaving the labour market, with more people choosing to study driving the inactivity rate.
More can be done
Shortages were reported across a wide range of roles and skills, from high-skilled roles (engineers, HR and legal) to technical specialists (butchers and laboratory technicians) and production operatives.
However, the report also said that manufacturers are tackling these shortages using a variety of approaches, from increasing pay and offering more generous benefits, to increasing flexibility.
The FDF said the labour market remains “tight”, although the fall in vacancies might be the first sign of cooling.
It said: “Against the economic slowdown, a drop in vacancies points to either businesses being cautious about taking on new staff or to them facing a lower market demand, so needing fewer people than some months ago. Usually, the fall in economic activity is reflected in the employment numbers with some time lag.”
Driving growth
FDF director of policy and corporate affairs Jayne Almond said: “It’s positive to see today’s figures showing a healthy rise in jobs across food and drink manufacturing. With a presence in every community across the UK, our industry offers a huge diversity of roles and great opportunities to build a career.
“However, unfilled vacancies are impacting on the sector’s ability to take on new orders and is contributing to rising inflation.”
Almond said that while businesses are already looking for solutions to fill these “acute” shortages, such as the Food and Drink Careers Passport, there is more that can be done to “ensure businesses have the tools and funding” they need to invest in automation, robotics and digital technologies and drive growth.
